26 



REPORT OP BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 



OPERATION OF STATE GAME EARM AT HAYWARD. 



By Wm. N. Dirks, Superintendent. 



I herewith beg to submit my report as Superintendent of the State 

 Game Farm, for the season of 1912. 



On account of the unsatisfactory results obtained in years past, when 

 all eggs were hatched under the domestic hen, it was decided to learn 

 if more satisfactory results could not be obtained by the use of incu- 

 bators. A great deal of time was spent in reading what various author- 

 ities have written on this subject; but it was found that their reports 



Pheasant chicks watering. 



were more or less contradictory, and that only in a general way could 

 they be relied upon. It was then determined to go ahead with actual 

 experiments. 



Various makes of incubators were tried and all were found to give 

 aliout the same general results. Eggs were first placed in the incubator 

 during March. Out of 13 eggs but 5 hatched — a percentage of a little 

 over 38. Of the next lot of 517 eggs, 367 hatched, or nearly 71 per cent. 

 Three other lots were tried, with poor success — only 40 per cent hatched. 



It was then decided to set the eggs under hens for a number of davs. 



